Goodwill Store wins approval for revised plan

Construction now facing some unexpected delays

A plan for a Goodwill retail store has been approved, but construction of the store is facing some delays.

Last week, the city of Morris’ Development Review Committee approved a revised plan for the store and warehouse to be constructed at Mission Parkway and Arthur Drive in Saratoga Business Park, next to the Aldi store. The building is planned to be about 16,000 square-feet.

On July 11, the DRC heard a presentation by Jeffrey Graves of JPG Commercial Real Estate on behalf of Goodwill. But at that time, the loading dock area of the plan needed to be updated, so Graves returned Thursday, said Morris Police Chief Brent Dite, chairman of the DRC, on Friday.

Originally, Goodwill was hoping to break ground this fall on the building, said Dite, but through the planning, some soil samples have been taken and there are some concerns that could push the project to the spring.

Building and Zoning Officer Bill Cheshareck said the grounds used to be strip mines and can be troublesome for building.

Scott Jenkins, director of retail operations for Goodwill Central Illinois said Friday he could not comment on the details or status of the project yet, but said the company hoped to have a location running in Morris by this time next year.

In other business, the DRC also heard a presentation from Mike Judge with the Morris Market Plaza located behind Wendy’s restaurant on Illinois 47 regarding an addition to the building.

The presentation was on a 1,200-square-foot addition to the existing structure that formerly housed HealthMart Drug Store. Judge told the DRC a potential tenant is in need of an addition for a walk-in refrigeration unit.

At the end of last year, the DRC heard an introduction on the proposal of an addition to accommodate a Dollar Tree looking to lease the building.

The addition does not need the approval of the DRC because it is smaller than the size required to go before the committee.

The addition is going to be behind the building, said Cheshareck. Dollar Tree hopes to be in by mid-November.

The project will go before the Zoning Board of Appeals because the store will need to request a variance for the materials it wants to use, said Dite.

The committee also approved plans by the Grundy County Housing Authority to expand its parking lot at the west end of Saratoga Tower.

“They are in desperate need for additional parking,” said Dite.

Cheshareck said the committee wants to see some of the green space retained on the property and the housing authority was going to look into accommodating this.